But what do we mean by “the soul of America?” In a way, unless we can agree on what our national “soul” is, or looks like, or represents, the phrase is empty of meaning and as a means of setting direction. We are battling for an abstraction that, lacking content, gives no clear goal. How will we know we have won this battle if we do not know what we are fighting for?
The word usually translated as “soul” in the Hebrew scriptures is “nephesh.” To the Hebrews, the soul was the core of a living being…that being’s essence. People did not have souls that could be separated from their bodies; people were souls. The soul was the animating principle of a person. It was what made that person tick, what drove and motivated and defined that person as a full human being. The Christian scriptures largely seem to hold to a similar understanding of the soul: not something that inhabits our bodies for a time, but something we are for our entire time.
I would like to generate a discussion of “the soul of America” in the context of the current election campaign. I am not very confident I will get many responses, but I will ask anyway.
As you listen and consider the descriptions of and visions for our country that are being articulated this fall, and that are begging for your vote, how do they match or not match your understanding of our national soul? What words or phrases best describe our soul? If necessary, what words or phrase do not represent our soul? What makes us tick?
The soul is who we are. So, who are we, anyway?
Dean, thanks for the question! It provoked in me the line in the hymn There is a Balm in Gilead to "heal the sin sick soul." One way to see the essence of the United States of America is through the lens of the original sin - the notion of white supremacy that justified slavery and nurtures racism and white privilege to this day.
ReplyDeleteIf healing is to be found, I believe it is in the phrase "liberty and justice for all" which, if realized or even approached, might be one description of a national soul.
Ken Jones
Thanks, Ken. A part of my daily prayer ritual since the day our current president was elected is this stanza from "America the Beautiful," with full recognition of its grammatical limitations: "America, America: God shed his grace on thee. And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea." Assuring full "liberty and justice for all" is an essential element in opening the door for true personhood in our national neighborhood. Accomplishing it would go a long ways to "restoring our soul." Dean
DeleteThird try at clarifying that the above response is from Dean, not Maxine. Google always takes me to her account on my computer, and I forgot to change it. Will see if it works this time! Dean
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